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Oh! Damn! Computers!

I'm a good mood today! Why? Because I recently ordered my new computer, something broke along the way, I've been down low wallowing in despair and doubt over my decisions to buy cheap computers online and digging around for solutions and thinking maybe I should've added a chunk of money to the sum I spent and bought something that's at least guaranteed to work, with a guarantee to perk... and not second hand with a wrecked fan... but after an inquiry to the shipping company it's been made clear they'll finance professional troubleshooting, and if there is trouble to boot to shoot, they'll finance the reparation fee as well AS LONG as it doesn't exceed the initial cost I paid for the computer. So! That is fucking awesome news! I'm so relieved I won't even bother keeping this site family safe for the day. My hopes are rocketing. I've sent out inquiries to all the companies nearby that do computer repair, and hopefully I'll get an answer soon, and then I'll let them check the computer, and hopefully it'll all be happy ever after and I can power up this new beast in a box and do all the things I've dreamed of that have always seemed to be just outside reach of my caged in finances. Like playing GTA 4... or even better, GTA SA with ENB Series and SRT3 on maximum settings. As it turns out, I might even be able to play GTA 3 and VC some more, because, they do work on 64-bit systems, they just don't work with integrated video cards like the one I happen to have on my current (now 4 years old) 64-bit desktop that's a piece of shit compared to my new masterpiece. Ah...

I actually wrote a blog about the trials and tribulations of trying to get this (formerly mentioned) box working before I contacted support, but I haven't gotten around to posting anything the past few days, so here you go, here's a post of a post-low mood written by this dude (me) the day before yesterday.

( pause, rewind two days )

So I picked up my new computer at the post office today, and the damn machine's not working! It fires up fine, the power button glows ominously red, the fans (five of them, two in front, two above the motherboard, blocking access to four slotes of RAM, and one in the back) are whirring, and the HD hummmmms fine. There's a switch to control the speed of the rear fan, a Cooler Master. The ATI Radeon card is the first thing you notice when you open the box, bright red, as big as one of those slim external drives, with a built in fan on one side. There's a rack for IDE drives (surprise!) with just one 500GB inserted, and space you can easily fill with one or two DVD/CD drives. This space is currently empty, but I do have a pair of CD drives (two DVD drives are in use in my two current computers) that I could mount. If I knew how. On second thought, they may be so old they're not even compatible with this new motherboard...

So, the fans get to whirring, the drive hacks familiarly like drives usually do when starting up (that good, cozy, hacking sound) and a little green light radiates from the motherboard. It sounds OK, but... there's no signal. The screen displays nothing. Plugged in keyboard/mouse aren't working. There's room for 2 DVI (or HDMI, not sure which is which) and I tried both of them. I have two screens, one new one old, and I tried both of those too. I have plenty of mice and keyboards, but I only tried a pair of those, a pair I know works, and should plug n play. The computer should have Win 7 Ultimate already installed. So... what can I do? Double check all cables and make sure they're attached. Power down, power up, power down again, try poking at the RAM below the fans to make sure they're all sitting tight, power up again... nothing. So, I email the sender. Wait for a reply. Still waiting. Five minutes later, I'm still waiting. Damn... I'm hoping for a miracle answer with a 'oh, you forgot to plug in the __' or, 'just hit the___' and it will all start running. But for now, it looks like I might actually have to go to a PC Repair shop. Or do nothing. It's a second-hand device, custom-built, some parts new, some parts old, some I don't know. I've always known there are risks buying things second hand, but in this case, I think/thought it was worth the risk. All the components are there. I can see them. All that's missing is competence on my part, and... maybe some spare part. Time will tell; I'll tell you in time.

For now, I should push the grueling doubt (did the buyer scam me? Did he just take my money and surf off to the Bahamas?) to the back of my mind and... get some studies done.

( pause, forward two days )

But that's all part of the past now! Blast doubt! Lash out! Slash clouds! Sunshine! My time! Fun time! Some sign. Fate?

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